No matter where you are in your life, you may regret choosing the wrong love.
You may repent of some bitter deeds you committed in the past.
What is it like if life luckily gave us a second chance? Can those issues be resolved at least then for a better life?
For instance, what about love in middle age?!?!
"Do you know each other upfront?", enquired Alok, turning from Dr.Alok to Raftaar. The two men nodded at each other. "We met recently but I don't know who he is", revealed Dr.Alok.
"Sir, he is uncle Raftaar, our new neighbor", said Alok, introducing Raftaar to Dr.Alok. Raftaar offered a handshake at which Dr.Alok frowned at him remembering how he had slapped the mentally retarded guy back that night and saved Nisha. The professor frowned as he shook hands with Raftaar while Alok smiled, continuing, "Uncle, he shares my name. He is the head of our college's research department and a very special professor invited by the university. He is the great Dr.Alok!" The young Alok exclaimed, announcing and smiling a bit, "He was my mom's good friend in their college too!"
"Oh wow, Alok Ji!", commented Raftaar, grinning widely and patting the jealous professor's shoulders. "Dr.Alok, forget about the past misunderstanding. I knew Nisha but she hadn't known me yet. I am just her friend...You know one must befriend their neighbors, especially in a new city at least until they grab a housekeeper, the milkman, and the newspaper agency...Even to learn about the nearby vegetable and fruit markets... that's why I was being nice to her, offering a drop and so on...Nothing more!"
As the two Aloks chuckled at each other, Raftaar winked at professor Alok, clarifying, "Nisha and I are just neighbors maximum friends. Don't worry!"While Dr.Alok shrugged, young Alok looked away and smiled to himself. Raftaar leaned forward and whispered to Dr.Alok's ears, "Professor, neither is she your woman for you are married. Am I right? You seem to be a good man but..."
"What nonsense!", exclaimed the frustrated Dr.Alok, at which Raftaar took two steps backward and rolled his eyeballs hither and thither, shrugging and convincing, "No! Ok...Everything is fine." He patted the professor, warning indirectly, "Professor, I hope you are aware of the fact that you can only teach one class at a time. But, when you are already teaching a class, you cannot suddenly ditch it in between and run away. It's unfair! You must have thought well before choosing to lecture the particular class."
"Uncle, what are you talking about?", asked the curious young Alok, shrugging and smiling at Raftaar who smiled at Dr.Alok looking down at the white rectangular tiles of the corridor. "Don't worry beta. I hope my point reached whom it should." He headed inside Nisha's flat and asked the two to leave. Raftaar sighed, lying on the couch and staring at the wall clock stuck to the wall forming the arc separating the hall from the kitchen. "Professor, please don't make Nisha the other woman of your life. She already feels weird at the startling sweet change in your attitude", thought he.
"What did he mean? I am of course a good guy. So judgemental!", thought Dr.Alok as Alok accompanied him inside the lift. Dr.Alok shook his head, at the lift descending to the third floor. "Sir, mom is totally alright", reassured Alok. However, Dr.Alok ranted, "I hope Nisha is fine. I won't be satisfied unless I personally see her. Sad girl, is she a baby to get hurt like that? Heights of recklessness!..."
The lights went off and the lift stopped. "Fuck!", exclaimed the two Aloks, in chorus. The young Alok hastened to turn on the flashlight of his mobile. He then pointed it at the switchboard. He pressed the bell thrice in a row. "Sir, don't worry. This rarely happens though. But, the guard will help us soon", he consoled the lost professor who was engrossed rubbing his forehead with his left fingers. "Why do so many things come in between only when I am tensed? I want to meet Nisha right away...Why does she have to strain herself even now after getting her hand injured? ", grumbled he.
The two Aloks looked around the pitch dark lift with their mobiles' flashlights spreading faint radiation. Scenes of him, as a young two-year-old boy hugging his father in a silent corner of a lonely lift, flashed vaguely, in young Alok's mind. He pressed his forehead tightly and closed his eyes, trying to remember the blurry face of the young gentleman in his mind; "Pappa! I am scared", wept a little male kid, clinging to his father who hugged him and banged the lift's door made of black iron chains. He kissed his little son's head and hugged him tighter when he began crying louder.
Presently, Dr.Alok's eyes were filled with tears as he recollected carrying his son high in his arms and faking a smile, consoling, "Ayushmanbhava, pappa is here. We will get out soon, beta." He wiped away his tears, looking up and hoping, "Ayushmanbhava, pappa misses you. I am sorry, beta. I am very sorry for dumping you."
"What's happening? Why am I unable to see who he is?", thought junior Alok, shaking his head vigorously as he saw his younger self hugging a man and weeping in a struck old lift. "Who was with me that day when I got stuck in the lifts? Where was I going? I don't know when it happened. Where was mamma then?", thought young Alok. He couldn't stop thinking about the past incident. "Is it a mere Deja Vu with my friends? But why am I young and with a random man? Did someone try to kidnap me during my early childhood? But, why am I calling for my dad? I have never taken the word, pappa. Was it before mamma adopted me? "-a pile of questions hit his mind, for the first time.
The lights returned and the two Aloks sighed. They faked a smile at each other and pretended to be fine. "These two minutes...I don't know why I felt quite weird!", thought Alok, as the lift's display put up a capital 'G' in bold red on its monitor. No sooner had Alok escorted his professor to the lawn at the immediate left of the lifts than Dr.Alok spotted Nisha. She was in a black gown and a big brown plastic clip embraced the bun on her head. She stood in the middle of the greenery and turned her head restlessly all around. She had a tiny mud pot of a baby money plant, in her hands.
"Nisha!Nisha!", shouted Dr.Alok, running towards her. Nisha saw her man rushing towards her like a hero hurrying towards his lover in the films. "How I wish he hugged me!", thought Nisha, blushing at him. "Okay. Let me go back. My mom is all yours, sir!", thought Alok, chuckling secretly and walking back towards the lifts.
Dr.Alok captured Nisha in his arms. She moved her right hand to hold her plant away. "A dream come true state!", thought Nisha. She hugged him, in return, along with balancing her pot. She massaged his back with her left hand and closed her eyes. He released her and caught her hands. he checked them out and concluded happily, "Sexy! The wound completely disappeared now. I freaked out at your photo. Phew!" Nisha smiled and slanted her head to the left. She observed a drop of tears rolling down his cheeks. She wiped it and shared, "Aww, Alok saar. Do you care so much for me? I didn't know...What a shocker for the day!"
"What do you mean, medam?", exclaimed Dr.Alok, raising his calm voice, "Your hand was bandaged last night. Why do you think I won't care? I should! I must! I ought to!" She laughed and narrated the story behind her fake injury. The two burst out a round of laughter. "Sexy!", remarked Alok, and Nisha began coughing. Alok patted her shoulder gently and she blushed.
Nisha suddenly moved away from him. "You can only care for Payal, your wife. Who am I in your life? I already spoke to you about it over the call lately. Why aren't you yet changing your troublesome attitude?", she screwed him. She then squatted down and worked on taking her plant out of the pot using the black cover upon which the plant stood along with the associated soil.
"You have a family, saar. Be responsible for your deeds!", warned Nisha, pretending to frown but internally her heart bet rapidly as if she suffered from high blood pressure. Alok bent and sat beside her. As she flattened the solid soil sitting like a rigid iceberg, Alok gathered the neighboring soil and mixed it with the pot's soil. He blushed while collecting a handful of soil and glanced at his pretty lady who concentrated on accumulating adequate soil nearby the roots. His pupils dilated at her curved and long eyelashes which shut and opened in sync with her natural smile as she planted the baby money plant.
"Alok saar!", screamed she, closing her eyes as she felt mud being applied to her face like the beautician applying a facial cream at the parlor. She turned back, shrank her eyes, and shrugged at Dr.Alok who stood behind her and laughed aloud. "Nisha medam!", teased he, pointing at her face as she frowned at him. She grabbed the metallic water pipe beside and sprayed water on him. He waved and looked away as his clothes got completely soaked.
"Oh! I can't see anything! My spectacles are blurred. Urgh!", complained Alok. Nisha quickly dropped the pipe and closed its small tank. She removed his glasses and cleaned them by thoroughly wiping their surfaces with her gown. "Sorry Alok saar, I totally forgot about your specs!...", apologized she, putting them back on his eyes. She caught his light brown eyes feeling sorry for her partially mudded cheeks while he caught her rich black eyes preparing to generate tears for his drenched state.
They blushed at each other. She complimented, "Saar, do you have light brown eyes? I always saw black pupils except for the day I proposed to you and today. Are your pupils black or light brown?" He chuckled, answering, "Black, of course!" She shook her head, slanted it towards her right, and chuckled, informing, "No, you haven't observed. It sometimes turns light brown. Chameleon eyes!" They burst out another round of laughter.
"Nisha medam, your eyelashes are beautiful even at this age. Were they like this during college too or did you do any make-up?", enquired he, at which she smiled, revealing, "Since birth. But, what's the use when none ever observed?" He shook his head with the blank and meek vision returning to his eyes. She chuckled and squatted back to continue checking her plant. As they assembled the soil together, their hands happened to go over each other. Their eyes were again locked into each other.
"Ah!", exclaimed Nisha, removing her right hand from his. Alok observed a red ant running beneath the soil. He threw his mouth open at Nisha shaking her hand in pain. He caught her hand and inspected it thoroughly. "Hey! What are you doing?", asked Nisha, shrugging at him. He spotted a tiny red mark on the back of her hand and in between her index and middle fingers. He kissed her hand! She bulged her eyes in surprise. Her heart beat knew no bounds and throbbed like a novice boxer continuously beating a punching bag. Her cheeks turning rosy was vivid despite mud covering them.
Aww! Will Alok and Nisha finally confess?!!!
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